


Aftershock

by SpicyRedPaladin



Series: Push Me to the Edge [2]
Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Angsty Carl, Arguing, But he right tho, Gen, Rick's an ass
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-14
Updated: 2017-07-14
Packaged: 2018-12-01 22:26:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 569
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11496003
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpicyRedPaladin/pseuds/SpicyRedPaladin
Summary: “What the hell was that, Carl?”





	Aftershock

**Author's Note:**

> I'n working super hard to keep this updated. I might not be able to post every day because my computer stopped working.
> 
> This chapter wasn't going to happen, but Staghag convinced me. (It wasn't that hard, go look at the comments on the first part. xD)

“What the _hell_ was that, Carl?”

The teen recoiled as his dad started in on him. He knew this would happen, knew that his father would berate admonish him for the borderline friendly attitude Negan had towards him. It had only been a matter of time before Rick blew up. It was always just a matter of time.

"I'm pretty sure that was Negan giving me a jacket." Michonne looked at the boy admonishingly. "What? _What?_ He's probably just trying to get at you!" He turned away from his father's burning eyes, but he could still feel them on his back.

"Carl, you take that thing off and you go inside and get your own damn jacket. I'm not gonna let you use anything that monster 'gives' you." Carl felt Rick's hand on the jacket collar and quickly moved away.

"Stop! It's not your place to decide whether I can or can't use something he gives me! I'm old enough to make my own decisions!"

"Carl! You are still just a boy!"

The others had left the open, leaving Rick and Carl to their shouting match.

"And what's going to make me a man, dad? How many people I have to bury? Or how many I have to kill? What's going to make you look at me and say, 'by god my son is a man now'? Nothing I can say or do is ever going to make you or anyone else around here treat my like anything more than a child!"

With that, Carl stormed away, back to the house, and then to his room. His scars burned, the tear ducts still working but having no place to spit out the hot tears that his good eye let stream down his face. He shoved the few things he called his own into a bag before picking up the picture of their family. All smiles and clean clothes and trimmed hair.

He tossed the picture aside, rejecting that the smiling boy in that photo had ever been him. He slung his bag over his shoulder and left that house. Left behind the houses with the other survivors and refugees. He wouldn't stay near them. Couldn't, really. They all listened to Rick, and, right now, Ricks orders and restrictions were not what he needed.

When he was finally alone, safely tucked away in one of the empty houses near the wall, Carl finally gave in to the tears. He sat and cried for hours, until long after the sun had gone down.

He could hear them trying to find him, his dad trying to apologize. But it was an apology he wouldn't accept. He wasn't a child anymore. He didn't need to go running back to Rick to feel secure.

Carl knew where his security was. It was at Sanctuary. It was two weeks away from being anywhere near him. He pulled the worn leather jacket tighter around himself, taking a deep breath to inhale the scent. It calmed him, put his mind at ease.

 _Two weeks_ , Carl thought. _Two weeks to go. Then I don't have to deal with dad's orders. The only one I'll have to listen to is Negan._

With that thought in his head, the teen curled up on the floorboards and settled in for the night. He would be away from Alexandria, away from the eyes that followed him, and, most importantly, away from Rick.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for continuing to support me! I love hearing your feedback! This has many more parts on the way, but I'm trying to make it to where they could be read separately.


End file.
